Senator Joe

A number of observers have pointed to Manchin's and Senate Republican's vote on the child tax credit and its effect upon on child poverty in this country:

The US figured out how to slash child poverty.

We are just choosing not to do so.

More specifically, Joe Manchin and 50 Republican Senators are choosing to send millions of kids back into poverty. https://t.co/95Ttoct9lN

— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) February 17, 2022

And here, I agree MSNBC reporter Mehdi Hasan:

If (when?) the Dems get hammered in November in the midterms, the number 1 reason will not be the left, or the economy, or Joe Biden, or Joe Biden’s chief of staff, or mask mandates. It’ll be two Democratic senators called Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. We all know this.

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) February 18, 2022

Additionally, interesting articles continue to be written about Manchin:

From E&E News:

Joe Manchin-connected power plant hasn’t paid rent in a decade

It begins:

The power plant that buys coal from Sen. Joe Manchin’s family business has not paid rent for the last decade.

The Grant Town power plant is built on the former Federal No. 1 mine in north central West Virginia. That mine is owned by a local company, Horizon Ventures Ltd.

Grant Town’s owner, American Bituminous Power Partners LP, stopped paying Horizon rent in 2012 and has waged a legal battle for years over the amount it owes Horizon in back rent.

At the same time it’s skipped rent payments, Grant Town has paid Manchin’s family company, Enersystems Inc., millions of dollars for waste coal.

I've followed Energy and Environment News for a long time. They do research that few others do.

And last week, the Washington Post published an article about Manchin's good-friend, Larry Puccio:

‘Larry and I will always be together’: Joe Manchin’s closest political ally cashes in on senator’s rise

From the article:

Manchin is now the Senate’s swing vote and one of the most powerful men in Washington, and Puccio has figured out how to monetize his ability to get his old boss on the phone.

Barely a month after Democrats reclaimed the Senate last year, turning the ability to sway Manchin into a sought-after skill, Puccio registered for the first time as a federal lobbyist. In less than a year, Puccio has cashed in. He and a partner have lobbied the Senate almost exclusively, according to disclosure filings, pulling in more than $310,000 in addition to his earnings from his extensive state-level lobbying business in West Virginia.

The article gets deep into WV Democratic politics.

Senator Shelley

Capito doesn't appear to be staying very neutral in the WV District 2 congressional race:

Quick recap on the announcement with @RepMcKinley ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/GPf1RlbZ9O

— Shelley Moore Capito (@SenCapito) February 22, 2022

Despite her comments about McKinley and infrastructure, Capito hasn’t formally endorsed anyone in West Virginia, but she has in Ohio. From the very rightwing Newsmax:

Jane Timken, US Senate candidate in Ohio, picks up endorsements of three female GOP Senators:
Joni Ernst (Iowa)
Deb Fischer (Nebraska)
Shelley Moore Capito (West Virginia) https://t.co/BBZzh39rrM via @Newsmax

— Logan Ratick (@Logan_Ratick) February 22, 2022

That’s quite a show that the Republican Party is putting on to replace Republican senator Rob Portman – from what I’ve seen, the candidates argue about who is the closest to Trump and who has the craziest rightwing ideas. The Newsmax article cites the latest poll which has Josh Mandell leading the race, followed by Mike Gibbons and J.D. Vance. Jane Timken is currently fifth with about 10%. Along those lines, I find it highly amusing that our local Ogden papers have no problem publishing totally-worthless editorials from and about Ohio, (see, for instance, yesterday's hard-hitting “Give Snow Plows Room”), but have not said one word from them about the Ohio Senate race.